here's the thing...
One of Jane's fronts is all but done. I can totally get this done in time for the frolic.But I'm about to do something dire...
Riiiiiiiiip.
Yup. The sleeves must be re-designed, re-knit. 'member how I said I didn't like the way the sleeves fit? I REALLY don't like the way the sleeves fit. And this has the potential to be a favourite sweater, if only the sleeves fit properly. I am now working on a plan to make them more like sleeves for a human and less like Chinese finger traps for arms.
Please don't try to talk me out of it... this is the first time I've ripped something out like this, and it's a tough decision. (I could just leave them and still be able to wear the sweater) This is like a small defeat, but there's also some victory in it for me.
THINGS I HAVE LEARNED
(it's good to figure this stuff out)
- I CAN knit an entire sweater in under two weeks. (even if that means a dearth of laundry-doing, proper meals, the gym, and anything else not knitting)
- Gauge is a lying sonnova *&^%!$F&^*...
- I want a sweater I'm really happy with. Especially since this is the first adult-sized sweater I've ever attempted.
- Just because you can get something on doesn't mean it fits properly, or that it will make you happy. I don't want this to be the sweater on which I screwed up the arms -- I want a favourite that I'm proud of, that I reach for all the time.
- Gauge is, seriously, a real @$$#0!3.
- I am neither a process knitter, nor a product knitter.
- I am a PROGRESS knitter. (it's all about how far I've come, how much I have left, how fast I knit how many inches, how many SPI that translates to, how fast I think I can knit the next so many rows...) "Beat the clock" was VERY satisfying for me as a knitting game.
Sigh. It has to be done. I miss knitting anything else, so I'm going back to my long lost Sea Wool sock tonight and Jane and I are going to stare mournfully at each other from safely across the room for a few nights. Did I mention that gauge is a lying ^M(*)F&^%!C$%S????? I'm never knitting an offering to the gauge gods again. Particularly not a large and generous one. Twice. (this is simply not true, but it makes me feel better to say it now).
See you at the frolic, without Jane... frolic plans posted Friday. I'd love to meet you if you're going!
posted by miss ewe @ 11:27 p.m.
12 Comments:
That "riiiiipppp" part of the post was painful.
that's too bad that you have to riiiiiiipppp, but in the end you will be so much happier. I definitely think when it comes to sweaters that they are worth futzing with them to get them to fit well.
I've found that learning to rip out hours of knitting is a skill as important as seaming or cabling or anything else. It is always worth the trouble.
But no matter how much I know it needs to be done, for some reason, my husband doesn't like to be in the room with me when I'm ripping out my knitting ;)
I'm currently wearing my first "real" sweater (the green tea raglan from Spring '07 IK) and don't you know that it just didn't work the first few times I wore it? I was sooooo proud of it, but I was damned if I was going to wear something that stretched and sagged and flapped (!) around my thighs like a dress after a day of wearing it! So I went to frog.....only to realize that b/c it was a raglan I couldn't frog from the bottom up - it must be from the top down! And because I wasn't **that** crazy instead I did something even more insane.....I got out the scissors and simply CUT OFF THE BOTTOM until it was short enough. Then I cleared away the stray pieces of yarn, picked up stitches along the bottom raw edge, and did a row of knit then a bind off row. Now it fits nicely.
While this was totally terrifying, I now am very happy with the sweater (relatively) - but even more importantly I have such a wonderful feeling about my knitting.......I'm starting (just barely starting!) to rule IT instead of it always so completely ruling ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Channel Elizabeth Zimmerman! Be the boss of your knitting!!!!
;)
You made me gasp aloud. Sorry to hear that gauge is kicking your butt. If it was cotton I'd tell you to wait till it stretched but it isn't so this is probably a healthy decision.
You've made me want to go rip my green Rowan sweater. Wait, I'll see if it fits my mom first.
I'd love to meet up at the frolic, even if we just pass briefly, peer into one another's shopping bags, congratulate and move on.
I know where you are coming from after ripping out a vest not once but three times, and now it is being made into socks, which are a bit too bulky, so I'll probably rip those out too and go back to a vest for a small child! oh it hurts my head to think about that again.
Coming out of lurking to give you moral support in these riiiiiping times. Remember, rip is not R.I.P.
You can do it...you'll never be happy with the sweater if you don't rip it and re-do. As long as you learn from your mistake(s) and DON'T re-knit the exact same sleeve with the exact same mistake(s) you'll be happier in the long run. I just re-knit the sleeve of my baby Voss three times, the third being the charmer, and I'm soooo glad I did.
Newly blogging Maaike in Montreal
p.s. don't you just loove Ottawa? I made my clapotis in Ottawa in a blue-ish/green-ish color.
I hate to say it but I frogged my entire Jane! Not for the sleeves--I could tell they would be too tight so I added stitches to that portion. The fronts were my problem, and the fit around the neck which I found a bit snug. So I redid the fronts, only to make them too saggy, with gaps at near the armholes. In a fit of pique, I frogged the whole thing. Am not sure what I'll do next--I really like the design. I will probably try again when my head is clear. Will take courage from your version and your solutions.
Wait - how do you feel about gague? I must have missed it somewhere.
hee!
How utterly tragic!!!
When I first learned to knit it was a scarf and I took it to my mom and she found a mistake about 10 rows down. So she told me the only thing to do was to rip it back. And she did it, but made me watch. It was horrifying. However, since then, if I know that it isn't something I can live with, I WILL rip it back. People think I'm crazy, but I will. So I can completely understand where you are coming from and agree completely. Good luck on the new design. And congrats for taking that step. Now, have you tried Steeking? That terrifies me.
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